SES-609 ELEMENT OF SOIL PHYSICS 3(3-0)

CHAPTER # 02

Soil structure and aggregation

Introduction :
As we studied in this chapter, a soil can be thought of as a complex building with the texture
representing the sizes of building blocks or bricks used in its construction. It is useful to continue
this architecture analogy and consider how soil particles (analogous to bricks) are grouped
together to create structure (analogous to a house). The arrangement of various sized bricks into
a house with associated windows, doors, and hallways represents the formation of soil
structure and the associated complex pores and channels.Bricks thrown haphazardly atop one
another become an unsightly heap. The same bricks, only differently arranged and mutually
bonded, can give rise to a home or a school.

As describe through this picture

Fig no 01

Particles (analogous to bricks) are grouped together to create structure (analogous to a house).
The cement and fibers that hold the bricks in place represent the microbial glues, roots, and
fungal hyphae that stabilize soil structure and create a complex of windows, hallways, and
rooms— “living spaces“ for microbes and “storage spaces“ for water, gases, nutrients and other
chemicals.

Similarly, a soil can be merely a loose and unstable assemblage of random particles, or it can
consist of a distinctly structured body of inter-bonded particles associated into aggregates having
regular sizes and shapes. Hence it is not enough to study the properties of individual soil
particles. To understand how the soil behaves as a composite body, we must consider the manner
in which the various particles are packed and held together to form a continuous spatial network
that constitutes the soil matrix or the soil fabric.

Definition
The arrangement or organization of the particles in the soil (i.e., the internal configuration of the
soil matrix) is called soil structure.It is soil dynamic property.

Types of soil structure

In general, we can recognize three broad categories of soil structure:

1. Single grained

2. Massive

3. Aggregated

Single-grained structure
When particles are entirely unattached to one another, the structure is completely loose, as it is
in the case of a coarse granular soil or an unconsolidated deposit of desert dust. Such soils were
labeled structureless in the older literature of soil physics, but, since even a haphazard
arrangement is a structure of sorts, we prefer the designation single-grained structure.

Examples :The loose sand in wind-blown dunes or loose dust accumulations such as freshly
deposited loess are examples of this single-grain structural condition.

Massive
On the other hand, when the soil is tightly packed in large cohesive blocks, as is sometimes the
case with dried clay, the structure can be called massive.

Aggregated
Between these two extremes, we can recognize an intermediate condition in which the soil
particles are associated in quasi-stable small clods known as aggregates or peds. This last type of
structure, called aggregated, is usually the most desirable condition for plant growth, especially
in the critical early stages of germination and seedling establishment. The presence and
maintenance of stable aggregates is the essential feature of soil tilth, a qualitative term used by
agronomists to describe the highly desirable, yet elusive, physical condition in which the soil is
an optimally loose, friable, and porous assemblage of stable aggregates, permitting free entry and
movement of water and air, easy cultivation and planting, and unobstructed germination and
emergence of seedlings as well as the growth of roots.

Structure of granular soils

The structure of most coarse-textured soils is single grained, because there is little tendency for
the grains to adhere and form aggregates. The two extreme cases of possible packing
arrangements are, on the one hand, a system of uniform spherical grains in a state of open
packing (and hence minimal density) and, on the other hand, a gradual distribution of grain sizes
in which progressively smaller grains fill the voids between larger ones in an “ideal” succession
that provides maximal density.

An assemblage of grains of uniform size is called monodisperse, whereas an assemblage of

widely varying grain sizes is called polydisperse.

Structure of Aggregated soils

In soils with an appreciable content of clay, the primary particles tend, under favorable
circumstances, to group themselves into composite structural units known as aggregates. Such
aggregates are not characterized by any universally fixed size, nor are they necessarily stable.
The visible aggregates, which are generally of the order of several millimeters to several
centimeters in diameter, are often called peds or macroaggregates.

It is important to remember that a prerequisite for aggregation is that the clay be flocculated.
However, flocculation is a necessary but not sufficient condition for aggregation. As stated by
Richard Bradfield of Cornell University a half century ago, “Aggregation is flocculation —
plus!” That “plus” is cementation.

An important role is played by the extensive networks of roots that permeate the soil and tend to
enmesh soil aggregates. Roots exert pressures that compress aggregates and separate between
adjacent ones. Water uptake by roots causes differential dehydration, shrinkage, and the opening
of numerous small cracks. Moreover, root exudations and the continual death of roots and
particularly of root hairs promote microbial activity, which results in the production of humic
cements. Since these binding substances are transitory, being susceptible to further microbial
decomposition, organic matter must be replenished and supplied continually if aggregate stability
is to be maintained in the long run.
Role of organic matter and microbial activity
Soil microorganisms bind aggregates by a complex of mechanisms, such as adsorption, physical
entanglement and envelopment, and cementation by excreted mucilaginous products.Prominent
among the many microbial products capable of binding soil aggregates are polysaccharides,
hemicelluloses or uronides, levans, as well as numerous other natural polymers. Such materials
are attached to clay surfaces by means of cation bridges, hydrogen bonding, van der Waals
forces, and anion adsorption mechanisms.

Break down of aggregates

Air slaking:
A particularly destructive condition may result when thoroughly desiccated aggregates are
suddenly submerged in water. The water drawn into each aggregate over its entire periphery may
trap and compress the air originally present in the dry aggregate. Because the cohesive strength
of the outer part of the clod is reduced by swelling and the pressure of the entrapped air builds up
in proportion to its compression, sooner or later the latter exceeds the former and the clod may
actually explode. More typically, however, a series of small explosions, each marked by the
escape of a bubble of air, shatters the clod into fragments. This destructive process is known as
air slaking

Fig no 02

Shapes of aggregates
The shapes of aggregates observable in the field can be classified as follows:

Platy: Horizontally layered, thin and flat aggregates resembling wafers. Such structures occur,
for example, in recently deposited clay soils. It is found in both surface and subsurface horizons.
In most instances, the plates have developed as a result of soil-forming processes. However,
unlike other structure types, platy structure may also be inherited from soil parent materials,
especially those laid down by water or ice. In some cases compaction of clayey soils by heavy
machinery can create platy structure.

Fig no 03

Prismatic or columnar: Vertically oriented pillars, up to 15 cm in diameter.Such structures are

common in the B horizon of clayey soils, particularly in semiarid regions. Where the tops are
flat, these vertical aggregates are called prismatic, and where rounded, columnar.

Fig no 04

Blocky: Cubelike blocks of soil, up to 10 cm in size, sometimes angular with well-defined planar
faces. These structures occur most commonly in the upper part of the B horizon, where they
promote drainage, aeration, and root penetration. .

When the edges of the blocks are sharp and the rectangular faces distinct, the subtype is
designated angular blocky. When some rounding has occurred, the peds are referred to as
subangular blocky.
.

Fig no 05

Fig no 06

Spherical/ spheroidal: Rounded aggregates, generally not much larger than 2 cm in diameter,
often found in a loose condition in the A horizon. Such units are called granules and, where
particularly porous, crumbs. In reference to this type of structure, the term aggregate is used
more commonly than ped. Granular structure characterizes many surface soils (usually A
horizons), particularly those high in organic matter. Consequently, this is the principal type of
soil structure affected by management.
 Fig no 07

Factors affecting genesis of soil structure

1. Both biological and physical–chemical processes are involved in the formation of soil
aggregates.

2. Physical–chemical processes tend to be the most important at the smaller end of the scale,
biological processes at the larger end.

3. The physical–chemical processes of aggregate formation are associated mainly with clays
and, hence, tend to be of greater importance in finer-textured soils.

4. In sandy soils that have little clay, aggregation is almost entirely dependent on biological
processes

PHYSICAL-CHEMICAL PROCESSES
Most important among the physical–chemical processes are:

1. Flocculation, the mutual attraction among clay and organic molecules

2. The swelling and shrinking of clay masses

Flocculation of Clays and the Role of Adsorbed Cations

If two clay platelets come close enough to each other, cations compressed in a layer between
them will attract the negative charges on both platelets, thus serving as bridges to hold the
platelets together. These processes lead to the formation of a small “stack” of parallel clay
platelets, termed a clay domain.
The swelling and shrinking of clay masses
As a soil dries out and water is withdrawn, the platelets in clay domains move closer together,
causing the domains and, hence, the soil mass to shrink in volume. As a soil mass shrinks, cracks
will open up along zones of weakness. Over the course of many cycles (as occur between rain or
irrigation events in the field) the network of cracks becomes better defined. In one of many ways
in which physical and biological soil processes interact, plant water uptake dries the root zone
and accentuates the physical aggregation processes associated with wetting and drying.

Freezing and thawing of clay masses

Freezing and thawing cycles have a similar effect, since the formation of ice crystals is a drying
process that also draws water out of clay domains. The swelling and shrinking actions that
accompany freeze–thaw and wet–dry cycles in soils create fissures and pressures that alternately
break apart large soil masses and compress soil particles into defined structural peds.

Biological processes
1. Activities of soil organisms:

The burrowing and molding activities of soil animals,

2. The enmeshment of particles by sticky networks of roots and fungal hyphae, and

3.The production of organic glues by microorganisms, especially bacteria and fungi.

Earthworms (and termites) move soil particles about, often ingesting them and forming them into
pellets or casts.

In some forested soils, the surface horizon consists primarily of aggregates formed as earthworm
castings. Plant roots also move particles about as they push their way through the soil. This
movement forces soil particles to come into close contact with each other, encouraging
aggregation.

GLOMALIN
Plant roots (particularly root hairs) and fungal hyphae exude sugar-like polysaccharides and
other organic compounds, forming sticky networks that bind together individual soil particles
and tiny microaggregates into larger macroaggregates. The threadlike fungi that associate with
plant roots (called mycorrhizae; see Section 11.9) produce a sticky sugar–protein called
glomalin, which is thought to be an effective cementing agent.

Influence of organic matter

Organic matter provides the energy substrate that makes possible the biological activities.
Influence of tillage
Tillage can both promote and destroy aggregation. If the soil is not too wet or too dry, tillage can
break large clods into natural aggregates, creating a temporarily loose, porous condition
conducive to the easy growth of young roots and the emergence of tender seedlings. Tillage can
also incorporate organic amendments into the soil and kill weeds. Over longer periods, however,
tillage greatly hastens the oxidative loss of soil organic matter, thus weakening soil aggregates.
Tillage operations, especially if carried out when the soil is wet, also tend to crush or smear soil
aggregates, resulting in loss of macroporosity and the creation of a puddled condition.

Soil crusting
The aggregates at the soil surface are the most vulnerable to destructive forces. The aggregates
that collapse during wetting may form a layer of dispersed mud, typically several millimeters
thick, which clogs the macropores on the top layer and thus tends to inhibit the infiltration of
water and the exchange of gases between the soil and the atmosphere. Such a layer is often called
a surface seal. As it dries, this dispersed layer shrinks to become a dense, hard crust, which
impedes seedling emergence by its hardness and tears seedling roots as it cracks, forming a
characteristic polygonal pattern.